The world of personal computing was definitely changing in 1983. While most people still didn’t own a computer, personal computing was becoming more of a reality. Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, predicted that year that everyone would own a personal computer in the coming decade. This was also the year that the Internet was officially invented, with the migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP. The now old-fashioned Lotus spreadsheet program was released for use on IBM computers and the term “virtual reality” was first used, coined by computer programmer Jaron Lanier. However, these new inventions were in their infancy and the business opportunities yielded by person computing could scarcely be imagined back in 1983.
Here are 4 jobs in technology that didn’t exist in 1983, but whose foundations were laid that year. What a long way we’ve come!
1. Tech Support for Website Hosting
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When the Internet first got started, people paid thousands of dollars to have professionals build websites for them. Today, building a professional-looking website is a relatively easy process for anyone to do. Website hosting companies like Namecheap and GoDaddy provide all the tools you need to create your own great-looking site.
However, everyone needs a little help sometimes, especially beginners. That’s what tech support agents do. People can call their web hosting provider and talk to a technician who is familiar with every aspect of building websites on their company’s platform. These technicians will talk customers through any trouble they’re having in building their websites. These jobs were not even a blip on the radar in 1983. Today, hundreds of people are employed at web hosting companies all over the world.
2. Social Media Marketing Strategist
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Social media marketing has become so important to getting a business’s website noticed on the Internet that many companies with the budget for it are hiring specialists. These are people who manage social media accounts for businesses and run their social media marketing campaigns. There is no particular education degree needed for this. One just has to observe how social media works to promote businesses, practice some with their own websites, and then they are perfectly qualified to bill themselves as experts. Companies of all sizes, such as the Brookings Institution, are hiring social media marketing strategists now. It’s considered a smart business move. Social media didn’t even exist in 1983.
3. Online Identity Protection Agent
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The Internet is a wonderful place to establish a business, make money, and to shop. It is also vulnerable to hackers who can steal credit card and personal identity information. This information can be used to ruin a victim’s credit and even get them in trouble with the law until the identity theft situation can be worked out. Identity theft is a hassle to go through and a very real problem on the Internet that did not exist in 1983, when there was no e-commerce. That’s why online identity protection agents exist. Working for such companies as Lifelock, these agents are hired by consumers to keep an eye on their personal information, give them the tools to ensure its integrity online, and to alert them to any potential problems so they can be fixed right away.
4. Internet Service Technician
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Having internet service in your home is pretty common in the Western world and thus, the position of internet service technicians thrives. Working for big cable companies like Comcast and Verizon, internet service technicians come to your house to hook up internet service, install new equipment, and repair any problems that may occur with your internet service.